Parma City Council has agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a police brutality lawsuit brought forth by the mother of a 16-year-old boy.

PARMA, Ohio -- City Council on Monday agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a police brutality lawsuit brought forth by the mother of a 16-year-old boy.

The suit accused officer James Manzo of unjustifiably striking the boy twice in the head while placing him in a cruiser following a traffic stop in November 2012.

Filed in November in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, the suit sought unspecified damages for the boy, claiming assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment and professional misconduct. It states he has suffered continued headaches as a result of the incident, and incurred substantial medical bills.

Council met in executive session to discuss the out-of-court settlement, and approved it on first-reading suspension of the rules, meaning it did not receive the required three separate reviews.

“I assume they were anxious to resolve this case because I think they realized patrolman Manzo was completely out of line with what he did,” the boy’s lawyer, Terry Gilbert, said Tuesday.

City spokesperson Jeannie Roberts said officials would not comment on the case because it remains open as the settlement is finalized.

According to the suit, the boy and two others had just been picked up by his father after visiting a friend when the van was pulled over by Manzo, who indicated the vehicle was stopped "because it was circling the block." The boy disputed the officer’s assertion, leading Manzo to open the van and say, “if you want to be a smart ass, come here."

As Manzo placed the boy in a cruiser following a pat down, “he produced a hard object, probably a flashlight, and struck (the boy) twice in the head without justification,” the suit reads. Manzo then left the boy bleeding in the cruiser while he radioed dispatch, allegedly falsely reporting the juvenile had bumped his head on the window.

“As a potential cover up to any wrong-doing, the blood from (the boy’s) head which got on (Manzo’s) patrol car was cleaned up before investigators had a chance to inspect and preserve the evidence. This evidence would have bearing on the veracity of the attack,” the suit states.

The boy was transported by EMS for treatment at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, where he was handcuffed to a bed, according to the suit. He ultimately received stitches and staples to seal a facial contusion.

“I think the citizens of Parma should be concerned that they have a cop that has a license to go around and beat minors up like that without suffering consequences,” Gilbert said. “This was not just an accident, it was an intentional, deliberate act against a defenseless minor. There’s just no excuse for it. If anyone else did something like this, they would be hauled off and be charged and have to answer to a felony.”

A police report for the incident was not immediately available.

City Law Director Tim Dobeck said Tuesday the boy has unspecified charges pending against him in juvenile court.

This is the second allegation of police brutality the city has faced in recent months. In October, Independence resident William Zaccardelli, 50, filed a federal lawsuit against 15 Parma and North Royalton officers, claiming he
suffered a fractured skull as a result of excessive force following an
early-morning pursuit across those cities in November 2012. Zaccardelli was later convicted of refusing to submit to OVI testing in connection to the chase.

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